Social networks could quit UK, says Reddit

REDDIT has claimed that incoming online safety laws could force social networks to quit Britain because of the burden of complying with new rules.

The US company, which recently pulled off a $6.4bn (£5.1bn) Wall Street listing, has told Ofcom that holding less well-resourced companies to the same standards as giants such as Facebook and Google could lead them to pull out of the market altogether.

Reddit said: “If smaller companies are held to the same compliance standards as the largest players, their competitiveness may be diminished, they may opt to withdraw from the market, and newer entrants may be discouraged.”

Ofcom is consulting on how to apply the Online Safety Act, which is designed to protect children online and crack down on illegal activity.

It will apply stricter conditions to major social networks, such as requiring them to offer verification and protect news content, but is considering where to set the bar.

In response to Ofcom’s consultation, Reddit claimed that it would be unfair to require it to stick to the same standards as bigger rivals. It said: “It would… be fundamentally disproportionate and harmful to sectoral competition to hold a company of this size and corporate profile to the same regulatory standards as its competitors, some of whom are amongst the largest and most resourced companies in the world.”

Meta, which owns both Facebook and Instagram, is worth $1.24trillion. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is worth $1.88trillion.

Reddit has slightly more than 2,000 employees and relies heavily on volunteers to moderate parts of its network.

Ofcom last week indicated it expected sites such as Reddit to fall under the strictest parts of the Online Safety Act.